Zeiss makes an 85mm lens that is, for all intents and purposes, as optically perfect as a lens can be. It's the Otus 85/1.4, and it's huge, heavy, manual focus only, and priced at nearly five grand. For the rest of us—at least the rest of us that shoot with Sony's mirrorless camera system—Zeiss makes the Batis 1.8/85 ($1,199). The lens isn't quite as perfect as the Otus, but it renders similarly, supports autofocus, and while it's not a budget lens by any means, it's a bargain when compared with the Otus. That make the Batis 1.8/85 an easy pick for Editors' Choice honors.

DesignThe Batis is styled much like newer Zeiss manual focus SLR lenses, including the Otus and Milvus series. But it's an autofocus lens, compatible with both full-frame and APS-C Sony mirrorless cameras. The barrel is black metal, with the Zeiss brand badge on the side in blue. The manual focus ring is finished in smooth black rubber, and sits at the rear of the barrel, near the base of the lens.

The 85mm prime measures 3.6 by 3.2 inches (HD), weighs just under 1.1 pounds, and supports 67mm front filters. It's not nearly as long as the Sony FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS (5.1 by 3.1 inches), but the two lenses aren't that far off in weight—the macro is slightly heftier at 1.3 pounds. Of course, the macro doesn't capture nearly as much light wide open as the f/1.8 Batis, but it does focus much closer. There's probably room in your kit for both lenses, if your wallet can handle it.

The Batis ships with front and rear caps, as well as a reversible lens hood. It has an integrated monochrome OLED display that shows the current focus distance and depth of field at the set aperture. By default this is enabled only when the lens is set to manual focus mode, but you can set it to appear in every focus mode, or disable it completely if you prefer. As with most other Sony E-mount lenses, manual focus is an electronic affair. Turning the focus ring activates an internal motor that moves the lens elements. If you prefer a true manual focus feel, the Otus (or another SLR lens mounted via an adapter) is a better fit. Or you can opt for the Samyang 85mm f/1.4, a modern manual focus lens that is available in a version that can be used with Sony mirrorless cameras sans adapter.

The Batis can focus as close as 2.6 feet (0.8-meter). That's perfectly fine for portraiture and general photography, and when you're shooting at a wider aperture you'll have no problem getting a blurry background. The Otus offers a maximum f/1.4 aperture, and an identical close focus distance, so it can create a slightly shallower depth of field. But again, there's that price difference, and the convenience of autofocus. The Batis includes optical image stabilization, so you can pair it with an original Alpha 7 model and enjoy the benefits of steadied shots and video. It also works in conjunction with the in-body stabilization of bodies in the Alpha 7 II series to provide 5-axis correction.

Image QualityI used Imatest to see just how sharp the Batis is when paired with the 42-megapixel Alpha 7R II. At f/1.8 the lens scores 2,918 lines on a center-weighted sharpness test. That's a pretty incredible number, well in excess of the 1,800 lines we look for in a photo, and even more impressive is the fact that the edges of the frame are just as sharp as the center.

At f/2.8 the overall score improves just slightly to 2,958. At f/4 and f/5.6 it shows about 3,150 lines, it improves to 3,422 lines at f/8, and peaks at 3,565 lines at f/11. At f/16 diffraction diminishes slightly from image quality, but the Batis still shows 3,217 lines. I don't recommend narrowing the aperture beyond that; at f/22 the lens drops all the way to 2,314 lines on the sharpness test.

There is some loss of light at the corners at wider apertures. At f/1.8 the corners show -1.8EV illumination when compared with the center of the frame, which is something you'll likely notice in field conditions. Stopping down to f/2 improves this only slightly (-1.4EV). At f/2.8 and f/4 the corners show about -0.8EV, which isn't a major issue, and beyond that it drops to about -0.5EV, which you'll struggle to see. Some portrait photographers prefer a vignette around subjects, going as far as to add one using software in some cases, so this isn't a huge issue. If you prefer even illumination, it's a very simple matter to achieve it using the Lightroom CC vignette slider tool or Adobe's profile for this lens. The latter is a one-click correction tool that is tuned for each specific f-stop.

More of an issue is distortion. The lens shows quite a bit of pincushion distortion, about 2.3 percent. Straight horizontal lines bow inward quite distinctly when shot with the Batis. Thankfully the Lightroom lens profile corrects for this, just as it does for loss of light in the corners of the frame. But if you're concerned with your ability to post images without extreme edits, distortion can be a concern, especially when shooting images with straight lines prevalent in the frame.

ConclusionThe Zeiss Batis 1.8/85 is a near-perfect lens, at a price that's well shy of the company's manual focus Otus line. It's tack sharp from corner to corner, even at f/1.8, captures a heck of a lot of light, and draws wonderful portraits with a very shallow depth of field. The only real complaint is the pincushion distortion that it exhibits, and that's something that's easily corrected on a computer. If you're in want of a prime lens in this focal range for your Sony mirrorless system, and you put an emphasis on portrait and general photography, look no further. Its major competition, the Sony FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS, is of a very similar focal length and price, but its optics are tuned for narrow aperture macro photography. Both lenses are excellent, and both earn Editors' Choice marks—it's up to you whether you'd rather have the wide aperture offered by the Batis, or the incredibly close focus capability of the Sony FE 90mm. If your pockets are deep enough, there's no reason not to carry both in your gear bag.

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About the Author

Senior digital camera analyst for the PCMag consumer electronics reviews team, Jim Fisher is a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he concentrated on documentary video production. Jim's interest in photography really took off when he borrowed his father's Hasselblad 500C and light meter in 2007. He honed his writing skills at re... See Full Bio

Zeiss Batis 1.8/85

Zeiss Batis 1.8/85

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